Kraving Khiva by Zoey Draven

Chapter Thirty-One

“It looks different in the daylight,” Evelyn noted softly, next to him, as they walked quickly through the alleyway leading to the front entrance of the brothel. But before they reached the courtyard, where he knew Madame Allegria had video feeds installed, he turned them down another alley, along the side of the building.

There was another door, which was always locked from the outside. But Khiva knocked a couple times, hoping that Valerie would be near enough to hear it.

A moment later, he heard the lock unlatch from the other side. Valerie appeared on the threshold and her lips parted when she saw them standing there.

“Is she here?” Khiva asked her.

“No,” Valerie said. “I don’t know if she’s even realized you’re gone.”

“How can that be?” Khiva asked, furrowing his brow and Valerie let them step inside.

“I told her your wounds were bad, that you needed time to recover. She didn’t even blink when I told her I had to cancel your client last night.”

“She is still on Everton?” he asked lowly, exchanging a glance with Evelyn.

“Yes. But she has a charity function on Genesis in two days. She will be gone soon.”

“A charity function,” Evelyn whispered in disbelief. “She is a monster. A monster in a mask.”

A grim silence spread over them before Khiva asked, “Are the others back in the Cluster?”

“Yes,” Valerie said.

Khiva turned to Evelyn, “Will you stay here, leeldra? I will not be long. I need to speak them. Alone.”

She nodded, glancing at Valerie. “Yes, of course.”

Khiva reached out to touch her hand and then he left the side room. He exited out to the first floor, where the client entrance was, before taking the elevator up to the top, back to where he’d spent a lot of his time for the past ten years.

Dravka was in the Cluster common room when he stepped inside, as was Tavak. Ravu’s door was closed.

“Vauk,” Dravka exclaimed when he saw him enter. “Khiva.”

Tavak turned, both males immediately standing.

“I do not have long,” he murmured to them in Keriv’i. He heard movement and saw Ravu emerge from his sleeping quarters at the sound of the commotion. Inclining his head, he greeted, “Ravu.”

“Where have you been?” he asked, approaching the group. “Valerie did not tell us where you’d gone, just that you were safe.”

“I have been with Evelyn,” he told them truthfully. “Healing.”

“Is that her name then?” Tavak asked. “The human female you have lost your mind for?”

“Yes,” Khiva responded, seeing no reason to deny it. “She is here now, with Valerie.”

“What is happening?” Dravka asked. “If Madame Allegria found her here…it would not end well for you.”

“It does not matter. She has no power over me,” Khiva said. “I am leaving Everton. Tomorrow night. I have come to ask if you will join me, if you will join us.”

“You have lost your mind,” Tavak remarked.

“We could all leave this place, start again,” he continued, looking at all of them in turn. “We would be free again.” They all looked at him, not saying a word. “Do you not want that? A second chance, to build a life you desire? Do we not deserve to?”

Silence spread over the room and Khiva felt frustration deep in his belly.

“This might be the only chance we have,” he tried again. “You cannot possibly want this life?”

“And where will we even go, Khiva?” Dravka asked.

“A neutral colony called Dumera,” Khiva said. “That is where we will go.”

“You forget,” Ravu said slowly, “that not all of us were like you before, Khiva. We were not the Prince of Firestones. We did not come from wealth. My brother and I were motherless, fatherless. We remember well the bitterness of hunger and how cold it was during the frost season.”

“You would rather remain here because you have food and shelter?” Khiva asked, his brow bones coming together.

“Do not judge us,” Tavak murmured. “You do not know what it was like, on Kerivu. But we remember. Why would we give that security up to go to a colony we do not know, where work is uncertain, and credits might be scarce?”

“Because you are whipped and abused on a regular basis by a sadistic female who sells your body every night,” Khiva growled. “Because you have forgotten what it was like to have freedom and will.”

Tavak’s lips pressed together. He looked at his brother, but neither’s expression changed and Khiva feared that he would never be able to convince them. Not unless they wanted it for themselves. He’d known that even after the destruction of Kerivu, they’d led hard lives, drifting from transient colony to transient colony until Madame Allegria came across them. They’d needed to whore themselves for credits, long before they’d met her.

“There is no choice for us,” Ravu said. “We must stay.”

Khiva blew out a sharp breath and turned his gaze to his other friend. “Dravka?”

He knew his answer even before he voiced it.

“You know I will not leave her behind,” Dravka said softly. “I would never leave her.”

“She can come with us,” Khiva argued.

“She will not leave,” Dravka said, knowing Valerie better than anyone. “Even still, Madame Allegria would not let her leave. She would let all of us go before she let Valerie go.”

Khiva closed his eyes, his shoulders sagging. Deep in his belly, he felt as if he was betraying them all, by leaving.

“Very well,” he said softly, knowing that no amount of persuasion would make them change their minds.

From the pocket of his overcoat, which Evelyn had washed and mended, he pulled the small, translucent card, the glowing numbers showing ‘2700.’ He’d found it there once he’d put it on that morning as they prepared to leave the townhome. He’d figured that Valerie had slipped it inside when she’d brought him to Evelyn’s that night.

He handed it to Dravka, though it was for all of them.

“Take this,” Khiva told them. “Hide it from her. If you ever change your mind, use it.”

All of their expressions were grim when they met his gaze again, but Dravka kept the credits, curling his fist around the card. He nodded.

“Evelyn has a contact in the United Worlds,” Khiva told them quietly. “We will meet him once we are settled on Dumera. We will tell him everything that she has done and see if an investigation can be opened.”

Tavak shook his head. “You think you can end this?”

“We will try. We must try,” Khiva said quietly.

He looked at all of them and raised his wrist to place it over his chest, a Keriv’i gesture, a respectful goodbye.

Dravka returned the gesture. “We will see one another again,” his friend said, inclining his head.

Khiva nodded because he felt the truth of it. “We will. Far from here.”

He nodded at Tavak and Ravu, which they returned, and then Khiva turned, striding from the room with a heavy chest. He took nothing with him.

He wanted nothing from this place.

He only wanted to be free.

* * *

“You can come with us, Valerie,”Eve said softly. “All of you could. You know that, right?”

The blonde shook her head. “It would raise suspicions at the Port Control,” she replied. “One Keriv’i might be able to leave. But certainly not four, with two human women.”

“We can try,” Eve insisted, though she knew that Valerie was right.

Valerie shook her head again. “No. She would find out. She would stop us all.”

“And what about Dravka?” Eve asked quietly. “What will happen when he’s been whipped as badly as Khiva was?”

The fear in Valerie’s eyes was so evident that Eve was almost sorry she’d brought it up. But she wanted the woman to see reason.

“She leaves him alone for the most part,” Valerie said softly. “Because I asked her to.”

Eve sighed and took Valerie’s hands. “I can’t make you come with us. And I know you’re afraid. But…if you ever decide that you need help, we will help you.”

“You’ll be so far away,” Valerie said.

Eve shook her head. “Remember these numbers. 45341.”

“45341,” Valerie whispered.

“It’s a patch number for a friend of mine. His name is Gorkan. He lives on the colony Dumera. 45341. Will you remember this?”

“I will.”

“Contact him if you ever need help and he will get the message to us. I can send a vessel or credits, whatever you need.”

And because it finally felt right, she reached into the pocket of her coat, her fingers curling around the gold metal. She pulled out a key.

Eve said, “This is a key to my townhome. Keep it.”

“I can’t,” Valerie said immediately, drawing her hand away. “She’ll find out.”

“You don’t have to live there,” Eve said. “I won’t put your name on any contracts. She won’t know. Just take the key, in case you ever need it. If you need credits, you can sell what you like.”

“I would never sell your possessions,” Valerie said quietly.

Eve smiled but it was sad. “They’re not my possessions anymore. I’ve let everything go. It’s all yours if you want it. All of yours,” she amended. She placed the key in Valerie’s palm and drew away.

Just then, Khiva came back through the door. He shook his head, telling her that none of the others would be joining them. Just as he’d suspected.

“Watch over them, Valerie,” he murmured to the blonde, putting a hand on her shoulder, “just as you have been doing.”

“I don’t do much, Khiva,” she said, her hand still clenched around the key. “I’ll try to hold her off as long as possible. But eventually she will realize you’re gone.”

“Then let her come,” Khiva said. “I do not fear her. We will soon be out of her reach forever.”

Khiva opened the door, looking at Valerie one last time and inclining his head. Eve hugged the blonde close, hoping that one day, she would would make the decision to leave behind that toxic environment, no matter the consequences. She just wasn’t ready yet. She just needed to find that courage, deep inside.

But one day, Eve had no doubt that she would find it.

They left Madame Allegria’s then.

They didn’t look back once.